Iron Will
by That Guy who posts stuff
Summary: The world of Remnant is littered with legends of grand heroes, and terrible villains. In this world the light and dark are constantly at war and with William Ironwood's luck he is going to end up in the middle of it. Rated M for language, violence, and all that citrus goodness.
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing but my OC's RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth.**

 **I am open to criticism as long as it is actually criticism that is backed up by actual evidence. Onward to the story.**

 **Chapter 1: Crash Landing**

James Ironwood had been the General of the Atlas Military for many years, he had been in wars against both men and grimm. He had a family whom he never saw due to the fact that he was the General, I mean how can the guy see his family at all. James was broken from the thoughts of his family when Winter Schnee entered his quarters, "Sir the preparations are complete. The fleet is ready to move at your command." "Good." was the only reply he had, and now he was ready to protect Remnant in his own way.

 **Meanwhile in an airship headed escaping Atlas…**

"Are you sure this it's alright to "borrow" a military airship?" asked a girl with vibrant baby blue hair. "Well if push comes to shove I can always pull the "General Ironwood is my dear old dad" card, that usually gets all but the most persistent military personnel to fuck off." a swift smack was delivered to the side of the boys head by the girl. "Language!" she yelled at him and all he could do was laugh. William Ironwood had known Jasmine Grattan for most of his life and since they both just turned 17 they decided it was time to leave Atlas and find a place they felt free and that place was Vale. Luckily most military airships had autopilot and GPS so neither had to do anything other than sit there and wait till they were away from this hell.

 **Flashback...**

Now everyone knew what the White Fang was and what they used to be. Once a peaceful protesting organization got a new leader turned violent made humans hate faunus more, you know the way it usually goes. Any way the way William met Jasmine was unique in the way that she was sent to kill him in his bed. Now forcing a child to kill a child was a bad situation, but that didn't stop the White Fang's new leader from ordering it. So deep in the dark of the night Jasmine snuck into his window and was ready to kill him, but he wasn't asleep. To the contrary he was quite awake and training using two shortswords as his primary weapon (much to his father's disdain). Next thing he knew a small girl no older than he (who was five at the time) had a knife and a gun, and she had the gun aimed at his head, but instead of fear all he felt was excitement that he finally got to test his skill that he had been honing for a year now. "So are you gonna shoot me are are we gonna stand here all night?" William could never not joke even in serious situations, to be fair his mother was just as bad too. Jasmine shot her small 9mm pistol at him and all he did was rush her instead. The fight was over in less than a minute since William actually had training while Jasmine had none. Jasmine thought he might want vengeance or to kill her instead, but all he did was offer her a hand. "Do you want to live here with me instead of trying to kill me?" William only needed to ask and she accepted all too willingly. He got in extreme trouble with his father while all his mother did was laugh at the situation before setting the girl up a room.

 **Flashback end…**

"Warning! Warning! Projectiles inbound!" The ship's AI blared loudly jarring William and Jasmine, but they didn't have enough time to react. One moment they were flying now they were falling out of the sky into the Emerald Forest. Ironically enough they fell right into initiation….also into an Ursa major.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Crash and Burn**

One thing Will had come to love about his life is that he had shit luck almost 95% of the time. Falling out of the sky into a forest full of grimm after being shot out of the sky by Nevermore feathers was just the start of his day. William and Jasmine managed to get out the airship unscathed thanks to their auras being at work, but it also left both of them pretty drained as well. "Well, Jas we made it to Vale in one piece, one glorious smoldering piece." "You know William I think you have a death wish." Both of them chuckled at one another as they trudged themselves away from the destroyed heap of metal. "All joking aside we need to move now. That explosion definitely got us some attention, and since your rifle is the only thing that survived that blast you get to take point." William always had a knack for making out battle plans, and Jasmine had always listened well so it was a good situation for them. "Whatever you say _General._ " Jasmine knew how much William hated the military career he was forced to follow just because he was the General's father, and in the face of Jasmine's attempts to mess with him he only did one thing. He smiled a goofy grin and told her it was time to move out.

 **Off in the distance atop a cliff…**

"You may have heard rumors about teams. Allow me to put your minds to rest, each of you will be given teammates. Today." Headmaster Ozpin had stated this very plainly before allowing Glynda Goodwich to take over. "The first person you make contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years so try to find someone you can get along with." She adjusted her glasses allowing Ozpin to take over again. "You will be launched into the Emerald Forest to find hidden relics, and you must use your own strategy." At the same time Jaune Arc was attempting to get the Headmaster's attention to no avail. One by one the landing pads launched students into the forest below, and one by one they all landed fine, all but Jaune who was luckily save by Pyrrha Nikos. Regardless of where you were in the forest everyone saw one thing, a Nevermore pelting an Atlas military airship with feathers and then said airship crashing into the sea of trees below. "Glynda call medical personnel and contact James." Ozpin was still sipping on his mug of coffee through it all.

 **Elsewhere in Atlas…**

General Ironwood was not having a good week. First an airship went missing and now Ozpin called him telling him said airship crashed into his students' initiation. "Ozpin have you found who was in the airship." Ozpin gave him a simple no which infuriated James even more. "Call me when you know more." With that James hung up his scroll then looked at the picture of his wife. It was the last one he took of him and his family before his son was sent to military school and before his wife was unfortunately taken from this world when she was on a mission with Summer Rose.

 **Back in the Emerald Forest…**

William and Jasmine had been walking for half an hour yet they felt as if they barely made any progress to civilization. Grimm had been sparse in the area though so Jasmine was thankful for that. The quiet of the forest that should have been full of grimm put William off. "Jasmine we need to hurry." William rushed his words. "What, why do we need to hurry." "This forest should be full of grimm. Don't you think it's too quiet?" "Ok Will you win time to hurry." Before they could start running they heard a scream. That was all they needed to find some kind of direction thanks to Jasmine and her enhanced hearing.

 **A few minutes later…**

William and Jasmine had entered a clearing that was populated by a few other people their age. The thing they both noticed was a girl with long blonde hair having a moment. "Can everyone just calm down for a second before something crazy happens!" She yelled. William and Jasmine decided hiding from potential allies was not going to get them anywhere. They both started to walk into the clearing and at the same time as that a Death Stalker threw two people in the clearing as well as a small girl diving off of a Nevermore. The girl touched down on without any injury. "Yang!" "Ruby!" They said to one another. "Nora!" yelled an orange haired girl. William and Jasmine finally made it into the clearing fully letting everyone see them. Everyone who was in the clearing looked at them. Jasmine was more of a people person so she took the lead from here. "Hi we just happened to get shot out of the sky by a Nevermore and now my friend and I are here." Everyone looked at them before they all look at them. Pyrrha Nikos was the first to talk to them. "Hello friends are you two alright after that?" she asked. Jasmine smiled and told her yes while William nodded yes while looking up at the sky. "Will what are you looking at?" "The Nevermore that has a person on it yelling for help." When William said that everyone looked up at the Nevermore but even more at Weiss who was falling. William saw this and mentally cursed before he rushed past everyone and sprung off a tree catching her in mid-air. Now the problem was how was he going to slow himself, so he decided on the fun route and used his dust manipulation semblance to create an ice slide from some of the frost dust Weiss' rapier held. Upon reaching the ground two things happened. First, the people who were on the ground gathered chess pieces, except for Jasmine. Second, Weiss slapped the William extremely hard. "Owwwww. What the hell Weiss?" Was William's response. "You don't call me you don't text me, and you disappeared for a year!" She screamed in his face. Normally he would have a witty remark, but he had to admit the girl had a point. "Fine then Weiss next time instead of me saving you I'll leave it to tall, blonde, and scraggly over there." He gestured over his shoulder to Jaune then started walking back to the group followed by Weiss. "Yay everyone is here now we can die together!" the blonde girl yelled sarcastically.

 **A few hours after fighting a Nevermore and a Deathstalker…**

"And From this day you will be known as team RWBY lead by Ruby Rose." Ozpin finished assigning teams and names. Glynda Goodwitch took the stage after this announcing where the new teams need to go to get dorms and what not.

 **In Ozpin's office…**

"So you are telling me that you stole an airship from the base, set it to autopilot, and made your way to Vale to escape the life you had in Atlas. You definitely have your mother in you." Ozpin said looking at the boy he called his nephew. "Sending you away will do no good, but both of us are calling your father right now." Ozpin said making William deflate as he began dealing William's father.

James heard his scroll ring and saw a picture of Ozpin flash across the screen. "Did you find out who stole the airship Ozpin." "Yes I did James and he has something to say to you." William hated talking to his dad, but he wanted to be here so he had to swallow his pride and do this. "Hey dad I'm sorry about stealing an airship, but Uncle Ozpin said I could go to school here." William and James were both stubborn and the moment he mentioned this a fight broke out between the two on the phone. Insult were thrown left and right for a good 10 minutes before Ozpin took the phone away from William. "James he has ran away multiple times now, at least I can watch him if he is here so let him stay." Ozpin was always one for calming a situation. James relented and let William stay. "So Jasmine and I can stay?" William asked. "Yes you two can stay, but you will have the same schedule and you will be assigned to help teams." Ozpin said. William didn't care though he was finally free of Atlas. Jasmine and him got up and went to the room number on their keys. They both barely muttered good night as they fell into their beds and passed out.


	3. Chapter 3

At 4a.m. Jasmine and William were pulled awake by their internal conditioning thanks to their military training. They both stretched and yawned loudly. "You want the shower first?" William asked Jasmine. She just nodded and went into the shower. Jasmine had looked at herself in the mirror. Her soft wolf ears were perked up her combat attire which consisted of a short pink skirt and a soft white short sleeved blouse the only dark thing she had on was her dark knee high combat boots. In seconds she had stripped herself bare and was in the warm soothing waters of the shower. William was sitting on his bed looking out the window at the sun rising from the horizon and he sighed. Yesterday was an ordeal after falling out of the sky and fighting hordes of grimm only to be made an unofficial team courtesy of his uncle Ozpin. William was broken out of his thoughts by Jasmine wrapped in a towel. Now William had never really thought about Jasmine romantically, but being a guy whose hormones were very much out of control he couldn't help but look at Jasmine and blush. "You know my eyes are up here." "Yea I know." Jasmine had gone about to brushing her hair, and William entered the bathroom. He barely recognized himself from the boy he was from a year ago. His stark black hair was once kept trim now had grown long and was pulled back into a ponytail his face had a nice stubble that was noticeable, but not extremely prominent. He wasn't particularly muscular, but he kept himself in shape at all times. His favorite outfit was ruined in the airship crash. a tank top, some torn dark jeans, and his riding boots were all he had left of his original outfit. After 20 minutes or some William was out of the bathroom in his school uniform. "William you know we don't have classes for another hour right?" "Really? ok then I guess we can go get breakfast." William and Jasmine had arrived in the cafeteria and got there in just enough time for the fresh food. Bacon, eggs, sasuage, pancakes, and everything else. Jasmine grabbed a few pieces of bacon and eggs with some orange juice, while all William grabbed was a bowl of eggs and toast with milk. Breakfast was over relatively fast as William watched all the people shuffle in and out of the cafeteria. He particularly noticed a guy named Cardin and his friends pick on a faunus student. "ignore it and don't cause any trouble." William had to repeat it multiple times to keep himself from losing his cool. The bell rang to signal the start of first period.

In Professor Port's Class…

Professor Port was well a portly man with an impressive mustache. "Grimm, ghouls, the creatures of the night, or as I like to call them prey." He laughed at his own joke and winked at the huntresses in training whose faces ranged from confusion to pure shock. He went on telling stories of his youth and not really even teaching so William tuned him out and instead he focused on Weiss. She still had her off center ponytail and that ice cold glare that would break all, but the most hardened people, but to him she was beautiful in every way to him even if she hated him right now since he disappeared for a year. Weiss caught his eyes staring at her and glared back at him in pure anger. "Now who believes they embody the traits of a true huntsmen?" Prof. Port bellowed out breaking their eye contact and waking everyone who had passed out. Without missing a beat Weiss's hand shot up. Prof. Port chuckled at her enthusiasm and told her to get her combat gear. Within a few minutes she was back in class ready to fight the grimm. As Port prepare to release the grimm she repeated the steps to her stance in her head. Chin up, head back, right foot forward. William had seen it plenty of times since he learned fencing as well. The boarbatusk rushed out of the cage at Weiss almost immediately disarming her. "Aim for its stomach Weiss!" Ruby yelled from the seats. "Quiet you dolt I have this under control." She spat a Ruby vehemently making the small girl sink in her seat. After reclaiming her weapon and flipping the boarbatusk on its back successfully immobilizing it and finishing it off with a pierce through its abdomen. "Very well done. It appears we are in the presence of a true huntress in training." Port complimented Weiss's skill and let her change before returning to class or attempting to, but it was cut short by the bell. William and Jasmine had left the class room right behind team RWBY. "I think she hates me Jasmine." William said sadly. "You left her for a year without so much as a word. What did you expect her to do?" She chastised him. All William could do was sigh and continue on with his day. Dr. Oobleck's class was over in a flash for William, as he always enjoyed history. Everyone else groaned or didn't pay attention, but not William he was enraptured with every moment of it. As the bell rang to release class he pouted slightly before he remembered what class was next. Combat Training.

In Professor Goodwitch's class…

William's body shook with anticipation as he entered the room, and he saw teams RWBY and JNPR enter as well and take seats near the front. Professor Goodwitch was a very attractive woman anyone with eyes could see that, but she was extremely stern. "Since it is the first day people can que up to fight if they so please." As soon as she finished William's hand shot up, and he peered across the room to see Cardin Winchester's hand up as well. "Mr. Winchester and Mr. Ironwood please get your items then return here." As soon as she said his name everyone in the crowd broke out into murmurs. Jasmine heard the average "do you think it's the same Ironwood" or the "that name is a fake." She just ignored it as she, and every other female saw William walk in without a shirt on. Even Mrs. Goodwitch blushed slightly at his boldness before speaking up. "Mr. Ironwood is there any particular reason you are not wearing a shirt?" "The only thing I have is a tank top and it's in tatters so I opted to wear no shirt instead. Is that a problem?" Goodwitch shook her head no and started the timer for them to prepare themselves. Cardin took this as a prime chance to pick on his opponent. "I bet you aren't even related to General Ironwood." William was used to the verbal abuse of people not believing him to be the General's son and his father never openly claimed him out of fear for what would happen to his family. William was at an impasse in his current scenario he had almost every girl in the arena ogling him and almost every guy wanting to kill him. The bell rang for the match to begin. William had been trained to fight both grimm and people from a young age, and this paid off greatly in his military career. Even his file designated him as a "Highly Lethal."

(Weiss POV)

"A year, he's gone for a damn year and he just expects everything to be okay?" Weiss thought to herself as she saw William walk out in nothing but a pair of black ripped jeans with combat boots, but what really caught her attention (and the attention of every other female) was the fact that her fiancée was shirtless and weaponless fighting an armed opponent. She was about to say something, but the match was almost over as quickly as it had begun. She knew that he had been trained to kill or incapacitate targets that was a given with his background, but to see him in motion was something else all together.

(William POV)

"He's cocky, unbalanced. That's all I need to win this." William thought as he stared down Cardin. The mace wielder charged William recklessly leaving him open in a variety of ways. William took his chance he coated his hand in aura and punched Cardin in the Knee causing a loud pop before following it up with a kick to the other knee and a swift upper cut causing Cardin to fly out of the arena.

The Class was in silence following the display of skill they had just seen in three hits Cardin was knocked out of the ring. Mrs. Goodwitch declared William the winner and went on with the class spars for that day and that wasn't many since Yang knocked a poor kid out before he even had the chance to register what happened.

After class, it was lunch time, and this had William possibly more excited than he was for sparring. William and Jasmine both had big appetites, and it showed from the mountains of food piled upon their plates. Rather than join Teams RWBY and JNPR they decided to find a spot outside to eat. "So found any cute girls yet?" William enjoyed teasing Jasmine about her relationship status, but when you grow up with William you learn to have a sharp wit at all times. "Yea and your fiancée definitely isn't one of them." She replied. William wore an expression of mock hurt. They started giggling with one another at this exchange. William and Jasmine always had this sort of brother/sister dynamic. "Isn't lunch usually the end of the day?" William asked as he popped a few fries in his mouth. "Yea, I think it is let me check the schedule." "HEY GUYS!" "Ah fuck" William thought as he heard Ruby yelling over at them from the building. William didn't hate Ruby, he just never liked loud people. Next thing he knew all of RWBY was surrounding him and Jasmine. "Dude that was an awesome fight!" Yang practically yelled at William. All he could say was thanks hoping to cut the conversation short, but Jasmine enjoyed talking to other people too damn much for him to stay around most of the time. So in classic William fashion he simply got up and left them in their conversations. Even if he did genuinely miss Weiss and wanted a chance to talk to her the chance he needed would need to be a private conversation. Jasmine on the other hand we entertaining Ruby and Yang with stories of travelling while an irritated Weiss stormed off and Blake just hung back letting them enjoy themselves. Just then William realized he had the free chance to get material shopping for his new weapons. " _Hey Jasmine going to town for some stuff be back later_ " was the text he sent her before rushing off to the air dock.

40 minutes later in the city of Vale…

William always loved Vale because it had a large amount of diversity from the food to the people. He knew exactly where he needed to go. His first stop was Irons and Armors a little blacksmith shop that he owned after buying it to help the smiths there keep the one job they loved doing. As he stepped into the shop he was met with a wave of smiles. William always loved this shop and the workers. Right now he needed to find Blackwell the headsmith. She was a very kind and strong willed woman an also a great fucking smith. "Hey Blackwell I need a favor." William said. "What do you need?" She asked. He handed her a list of materials that he knew she'd have then something caught her eye. "Why do you need darkened mithril?" She asked him. "It's for a personal project." She just nodded at his answer and sent someone to get the materials. "Why are you in Vale for this time?" "I'm actually a student now." That sentence caught Blackwell off guard. William, a student, now that is something she never expected to hear. A short moment later the worker came back with a leather bag full of refined metals. "How much do I owe you?" He asked her. "It's on the house." She replied sternly. "Are you sure. I know this stuff isn't cheap" He said. She pushed the bag into his arms and forced him out the door. "Guess she really didn't leave any room for me to disagree." He thought as he walked to his next destination a small tailor shop for some outfits, leather, and three bolts of ice dust infused cloth, and his final destination From Dust til Dawn. 4 hours had passed since he had come into town and he was finally done, but now he had to get one last thing. Dinner. He stopped in front of a restaurant. "Wow I've missed this place" He said softly under his breath. Travalone was a place his mother loved, and he always had good memories when he ate here. But he'd have to have those memories another time. "I'll just eat when I get back to the dorm." He thought as he rushed off to the airdock.

In an Airship above Vale…

William hated riding when it got close to evening. Airships always slowed down to avoid accidents under the setting sun, and that made his trip home all the more irritating. He wanted to get home and get started on his new set of equipment. He saw other student with him as well some even looked like they just got finished with a date or team outings. It made William happy to see that other people could come together so well given the increase of White Fang activity recently. "Docking in 10 minutes." An automated voice stated calmly in the cabin. Everyone settled into their seats as they began the slow descent back into Beacon. As soon as they touched down William made his way to his dorm conveniently placed down the hall from both teams RWBY and JNPR. He made his way to his door before he listened closely. He heard the voices of RWBY, JNPR, and Jasmine. "Damn it Jasmine you just have to be so friendly." He thought as he prepared himself for what lay in wait on the other side of the door. He had walked in on a session of truth or dare. He figured that it was Jasmines idea of getting to know one another on a more personal level since they'd be providing support to them. Granted Blake, Weiss, and Ren were sitting out of this activity and that was something he could completely understand. Nora was daring everyone to do something outlandish and Jasmine kept demanding truths. They seemed to be enjoying the activity, but William needed to get started on his project, so he switched into a fresh pair of jeans and a plain black tank top that he'd just bought and walked right back out to the smithy.

A few minutes later in the school forge…

"I'll need two pistols, a sword, a dagger, and a pair of bracers," He shook the sack of metal "Yea this is definitely enough metal." He went to work on the bracers and dagger first. He'd figured he could make the dagger concealed within one of the bracers. After 2 hours of forging and tempering darkened mithril into intricate bracers inlaid with a wolf's head with an open mouth holding ice dust crystals. The dagger in comparison was rather plain just a plain double edged dagger with a straight hilt, but that is what he needed it to be. "I can do the rest some other time, but for now this should do." He packed up the leftover metal and went about his way to his room, but then he heard Weiss huffing and puffing on the roof. "This might bite me in the ass, but I need to do this sooner rather than later." He prepared himself mentally for the onslaught he was sure was brewing. "I deserved to be team leader, I'm older, I'm prepared I'm more skilled!" Weiss was screaming to no one in particular. "You know it takes more than that to be a leader Weiss." William said from behind her. "What do you know about being a leader?!" She yelled at him. "It takes patience and time. It takes the desire to know what you are and aren't good at and bettering yourself to make sure your team can also get better." He said sadly. She didn't have anything to say after that. "Weiss, can we talk about us?" He asked her. She was afraid she'd regret it, but she knew they needed to talk as well. "First off I'm sorry for leaving for a year with no word about it, but I was sent on a mission with no warning." He looked at her to see if she was still listening and after he got confirmation he continued. "I was captured by the White Fang 2 months into the operation. The following month I was tortured repeatedly before they decided I wouldn't give them any information so they decided I was to be made an example of." He stopped for a second to prepare himself. "What happened to you?" She asked him. "I killed them. I killed everyone who stood between myself and the exit. Men and women whoever was in my way they were killed." William stated this fact somberly as he stared off into the distance with glazed and hollow eyes. He felt her hand rest lightly on top of his before he gave it a firm squeeze. "4 months after that I wandered around Mistral helping whoever I could and learning how to accept what I had done. 2 month after that I contacted my father telling him where I was, and the last 3 were spent training to get prepared for beacon." He finished his story still looking off in the distance with hollow eyes. "Why did you never call or contact me when you got back?" She asked him. "I was trying to get back to being myself again, but it's never that easy." He stated simply. She rested her head on William's shoulder as they both looked off into the distance. "Are things between us better now?" He asked her. "Not completely, but things are getting better." She said as she nuzzled into his shoulder. He just chuckled as they both sat there for a while staring at the moon. "Well I need to get back to my dorm and try to make things better with Ruby." Weiss said as she finally pulled herself off of William. "I'll go with you." He said as they both got up and walked side by side through the dim hall. After a short walk, they made it to the dorm of RWBY. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Will said as they got to the door. "Yes, you'll see me tomorrow." She said before giving him one last goodbye before shutting her dorm door. He looked at the door of his and Jasmine's dorm. "This is definitely going to be interesting to say the least." He thought to himself as he walked into his dorm to see Jasmine waiting up for him. "Eventful night?" She asked. "Something like that. How did the truth or dare go?" He asked. She shrugged her shoulders and finally laid down to get some rest. William laid down in his bed letting sleep take hold of him.


	4. Chapter 4

The school was in a buzz about the recent events involving William, and Jasmine was having an extremely wonderful time making fun of him every step of the way. "Look all I'm saying is it's totally normal for someone to forget their clothes." William said defending himself for the 8th time this morning. "That is hard to believe considering you were found nude three different mornings." She said laughing at him. "Not my fault that Ironwoods have iron wood." He said jokingly. "Oh dear Oum you're almost as bad as Yang." She groaned.

Flashback…

The night after William had made up with Weiss he woke up with a feeling of relief. Jasmine was occupying the room's shower so he went to the boys' shower. 15 minutes later he walked out with a towel wrapped around his waist and clothes under his arm. "Shit, I forgot to grab clothes." He muttered under his breath. "Mr. Ironwood." A voice said from behind him that made him drop his hold on the towel. He turned to see Ms. Goodwitch covering her eyes. "Please do remember your clothes next time." She said as he scurried past her to his room. This occurred two other times only difference was one morning it was Professor Port and the other morning was Weiss. Weiss wasn't happy about it either seeing as how she proceeded to chew him out in the hall at 5a.m. which prompted others to start peeping their heads out of the door to see him in all his glory being yelled at by Weiss. Luckily for him the ladies shared tales of his manhood.

Presently in the Cafeteria…

They sat down next to JNPR and RWBY like they normally did, but Weiss was avoiding eye contact with him and Nora was about to say something he knew would make things awkward. "Is it true what they say about your sword Will?!" Nora blurted out making everyone look at Will and making Jasmine fall out of her seat laughing. "Yes, Nora what you've heard is true." He replied flatly. "Well I know Ren has." She was cut off by Ren grabbing her and holding her mouth shut. "That's enough prying Nora." He said with the faintest of blushes on his face. William was scarfing down bacon and eggs while everyone else was watching the table across from them. "It's horrible that he can get away with such things and no one will stop him." Pyrrha said through gritted teeth. "She should stand up for herself." Blake said angrily. "That's rich coming from someone who's hiding who they are." Will thought as he looked at the girl being picked on by Cardin. "She won't ever fight them." Will said. "How do you know that?" Blake hissed at him. "Simply put she's stronger than all of them combined anyone can sense that." He said looking at the bunny eared girl. "But if she fights back she makes a target of herself so she chooses to take the beating instead." He told the table still looking at team CRDL. William got up from his seat with an empty tray in his hand. "However, I will always be a target." He said as he walked up behind Cardin and his team. "Leave her alone Winchester." William said as they all turned to him. "And what are you going to do if I don't?" He said challenging William. "Nothing, I just thought you should stop picking on someone who is obviously so much weaker than you." William said catching his attention. "You only get respect for beating those stronger than you, but if you want to never get any respect that's your business." He said as he walked away from CRDL. "Tch he's right she's too weak to be worth the time." Cardin said. "Let's go." He ordered them as they returned to a table. William sat his tray down in a return stack and sat next to the bunny eared girl. "Sorry about the things I said about you." William said as he looked at the girl who was near crying. "Fighting isn't the only way to get rid of someone, sometimes the right words work just as well as a bullet." He said. "I'm William by the way." He said. "Velvet Scarlatina." She said through her tears. "I know you're stronger than all four of them put together, so keep that in mind next time they mess with you Velvet." He said as he got up and went back to his table. Velvet waved at him as he walked off and he returned a small wave as he arrived to hear the bell for classes ring. "Ugh I didn't even get to finish my food." William groaned loudly as they made their way to Prof. Port's class.

Ports' Classroom…

As per the usual Proffesor Port was telling stories about his youth boring the class to sleep. The diligent students tried to make some kind of notes out of what he was saying, but all they got were small bits about weak points on some grimm and the fact that apparently he's had the mustache for about as long as he's been alive. William was preoccupying himself with a game on his scroll before he saw a banner appear over the game. " _Pay attention in class. – Weiss" "Since you took the time out of class to text that wouldn't that make you a hypocrite? – William"_ _"I have no problem hurting you Ironwood. – Weiss" "I live every moment in fear. – William"_ He looked up from his scroll to see Weiss giving him a death glare before returning to his game. _"I seriously will hurt you. – Weiss" "Damn it woman can't I get a slight rest from Port's lessons? – William" "No you cannot. – Weiss"_ Lucian was internally growling before he stuffed his scroll back into his pocket. Weiss smirked at him and turned back to Professor Port. "I swear one day this woman is gonna drive me crazy." Will thought to himself as he started to pull his scroll out again. _"Put it up Will. – Weiss"_ "How the hell did she even do that." He thought to himself as the bell rang for Professor Oobleck's history lesson.

In Oobleck's classroom…

Prof. Oobleck had a habit of talking 500 mph and it made class harder for most of the student's. Sure, you had the ones like Pyrrha, Jasmine, and Weiss who would take notes on anything thrown at them almost as quickly as it was thrown. You had your slackers which was where William, Ruby, and Jaune were currently at. Lastly you had the students who thought they were too good to learn about something if they thought it was useless, and its sole student was Cardin Winchester. From what little William had been able to understand he was talking about the Faunus Rights Revolution and The Battle of Fort Castle. "Does anyone know what mistake General Lagune made when he fought the Faunus?" Prof. Oobleck asked the class. Cardin threw a ball of paper at Jaune's head startling him. "Ah Mr. Arc so glad to see you want to answer the question." The professor said. Jaune was looking around the class trying to get any help and saw Pyrrha making circles around her eyes with her hands. "They had binoculars." He answered hesitantly. "That is wrong." He told Jaune which made Cardin let out a guffaw. "Would you happen to have the answer Mr. Winchester?" He asked Cardin. "Well I know it's easier to train an animal than it is to train a soldier." He said confidently. "That's a backwards way of thinking Cardin." William said. "You got a problem?" He said trying and failing to intimidate William. "No, but I'm sure someone has the answer." William replied boredly. "The general made the mistake of attacking the Faunus in the dark without realizing they have near perfect vision in the dark." Pyrrha answered. "Correct!" Prof. Oobleck yelled startling the rest of the student who were napping. "It would do us all well if we learned from the past lest we repeat it." He said as the bell for class to end rang. "Everyone be sure to work on your reports about the Great War." He reminded the class as they shuffled out of his class. "Cardin and Jaune stay behind to receive additional readings." He said stopping Cardin and Jaune in their tracks. They both released groans. Jasmine was still scrawling down notes making sure she got as much information as she could. "Jasmine!" Will yelled from the doorway. "Time to go to Ms. Goodwitch's class." He told her as his head disappeared behind the doorway. She grabbed her things and hurried behind Will to the combat room.

Professor Goodwitch's Class…

Everyone at Beacon always looked forward to combat class, well everyone but Jaune. William was getting ogled by most of the females in the class and it was starting to make him feel on edge. "Jasmine I don't like all the looks I'm getting." He said with a noticeable uneasiness in his voice. "Next time remember clothes and this wouldn't be a problem." She said nonchalantly. "I guess that is a valid point." He said. He sat next to Weiss while the rest of team RWBY sat in spaces near Ruby with Jasmine not being too far either. The members of RWBY and Jasmine were chatting while Weiss and Will sat silently by one another. "Weiss would you like to go get dinner this weekend?" He asked her without any hesitation. "Do you think a room where people literally beat each other is the best place to ask that?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow. "Probably not, but I've learned you'll always regret 100% of the things you never try." He said confidently. "Alright I'll go with you this weekend." She said. "How does 5 sound?" He asked her? "I suppose it will do." She answered coolly. William had a small smile on his face. "William Ironwood and Yang Xiao Long report to the arena." Said Prof. Goodwitch. "Why do you hate me Goodwitch?" William asked himself to no avail. He donned his white tail coat and put on his wolf bracers. "This should work if I play it just right." William said as he pulled out the dagger and coated it in ice dust. Lucian walked out of the tunnel into the arena to see Yang getting herself hyped up. "Don't you dare go easy on me Will!" She yelled from the other side of the arena. "Wouldn't dream of it!" He yelled back. Time slowed to a crawl as a bell rang to signal the start of the match. Yang wasted no time closing the distance between herself and Will. Will crouched low to the ground as he heard Ember Cecila cocking. Yang's first fist flew by his head but it was followed up by a barrage of wild swings accompanied by gunfire. He broke the barrage when he ducked under a swing and slammed his fist into the ground causing a spire of ice to erupt between them. He waved his arm downward causing the spire to become a thick layer of ice covering the arena. "That's a cheap trick!" Yang yelled as her eyes flashed red. Will just looked at her with a smirk and shrugged. She started shooting projectiles at the ground breaking away the thick sheet of ice to create a path to Will. She jumped at him aiming an anger filled punch at his stomach. She closed the distance with him quick, but this was Will's playing field now. She was almost close to connecting when a chunk of ice smashed into her side. "You can't win Yang." He said confidently. "I'll show you want I can do!" She roared at the top of her lungs as a wave of energy burst out of her. "Now we can really get this show on the road." Will thought to himself as Yang rushed him like an enraged bull. Her swings had enough energy behind them to make the air since in their wake and the ground tremble at their touch. William hadn't made one physical attack yet and was mainly avoiding the swings of an enraged Yang.

In the stands…

Ruby was cheering on her sister passionately as everyone else in the class was either on the edge of their seats or analyzing the fight. "Why hasn't he thrown a punch yet?" Blake asked the people around her. "I have no idea." Jasmine replied. "Usually he'd end a fight extremely quickly so why is he dragging this one out?" Weiss asked next. Then it hit Jasmine. "He's analyzing her fighting style so he can learn how to support her in combat." She told the group. "One of them has to end the match soon since they only have a minute left." Blake said as she focused on the match once again.

Back in the ring…

Will looked at the match timer to see that they only had 56 seconds left on the clock. "Time to end this match." He thought to himself as Yang kept swinging. The ice under Yang opened up causing her to lose her balance temporarily, but before she could recover a frozen hand swatted her towards the edged of the arena before all of the ice shattered and suddenly evaporated leaving a thick layer of mist covering the arena. The only thing anyone heard was what sounded like ice instantly forming and a one final clash erupting. As the last bits of the heavy mist dissipated the crowd saw William standing in the center of the arena holding his dagger in a reverse grip and Yang slammed into the wall. "William Ironwood is the winner." Ms. Goodwitch said as Will picked up Yang bridal style. "I'll take her to the infirmary." He said as he was walking towards the door. "If that is okay with you Mr. Goodwitch." "I suppose it is fine." She said as he disappeared around the corner.

In the stands…

"That was sooooo cooooool!" Nora exclaimed loudly. "Volume Nora." Ren reminded her as she sat back down. "I must admit that was a skillful display." Pyrrha said with a slight twinkle in her eyes. Weiss had eventually toned out her compatriots and focused on Will. That stupid womanizing idiot Will. "I know he was taking her to the infirmary, but he didn't have to carry her in such and indecent way." She thought to herself. What she didn't realize is that she was getting red in the face and everyone around her was noticing it. "Are you feeling okay Weiss?" Ruby asked her. "I'm fine." She answered. "You don't look fine." "I AM FINE." She reiterated to Ruby making the small girl stop talking all together. "After the rest of our classes are over we should go see Yang." Jasmine said. Everyone nodded in agreement with the idea.

And so the rest of the classes passed in a blur for teams RWBY and JNPR, and with the school day coming to a close they visited Yang in the infirmary…

"You should be better by tomorrow Ms. Xiao Long." The doctor told her. "Thank you, doctor." William said as he and Yang exited the infirmary only to run into RWBY and JNPR. "Well it looks like I won't have to help you get to your dorm after all." Will told Yang as he went the complete opposite directions of the teams approaching them. Ruby hugged Yang causing her to wince. "I'm still tender Rubes." She told her little sister. Yang rejoined the group as they returned to their dorms to get started on schoolwork. Will had set out for the forge to continue working on his gear.

In the school forge…

William had returned his combat gear to his locker and donned a simple white tee with jeans. He currently had on heavy leather gloves and a smith's apron as he was hammering away at a blade. He currently had the shape of a double edged straight sword with a wide opening it the middle that separated the two edges. The guard was a simple cross design with a wolf motif decorating the center on each side. The handle was made of treated ebony and wrapped in red leather with a hex pommel being the final piece of assembly. "Too bad I used all the darkened mithril I had left." He said looking at his edged art. "I might have to call my dad for the pistols." He said looking at the designs of a pair of heavy twin pistols modified to use conventional ammo or fire out concentrated blasts of aura. He rubbed his temples and folded the blueprint returning it to his bag. He returned the apron and gloves to a small box before exiting the building with his new sword. The sun was setting in the sky as he walked back to the main school building. His phone vibrated in his pocket. _"I need to see you in my office. – Uncle Ozpin."_ Will cursed under his breath and made his way to the top of the tower.

In Ozpin's office…

Jasmine had been sitting here 10 minutes waiting for Will to show up so they could be briefed on their mission. The sound of an elevator opening was the indication she needed to know. "What's our mission?" William asked Ozpin with a scowl. He sipped on his coffee. "We need you to infiltrate a warehouse thought to be connected to the White Fang's recent activity in the city." He told them still sipping on the coffee. "You go get prepared Jasmine I'll catch up in a minute." "Yes sir." She said as she went to go prepare for the night operation. When William was confident she was gone he turned back to his uncle. "What's the real objective here Uncle?" He asked him with a stern tone. "There are three White Fang lieutenants in this warehouse along with a platoon of soldiers." He told William honestly. "Your objective is to gather information, but we also need the lieutenants captured or killed." William cursed loudly. "Fine, but if things go south you tell her that I specifically order her to RTB." "Of course." Ozpin replied sipping on his coffee as William exited his office to prepare for a mission.


	5. Chapter 5

William was currently in a skin tight black suit with ballistic padding and his head was covered by a cowl. He always hated wetwork missions, but they were one of the things he was trained to excel at. Jasmine and he had been dropped in a clearing not far from their objective. "We do this quick." He told her as they made their way through a thicket of trees surrounding a compound. William scouted the area checking defenses and White Fang movement. Ozpin had been right about how active this place had become in the past few days. "They're planning to move the convoy soon." He told her as they both looked at the mass of trucks being loaded. William zoomed his goggles at the cargo. "They're hauling people." He said with disgust tainting his words. He touched his ear piece. "We need all available units at these coordinates." He said to his uncle on the other end of the line. "I'm moving in." He said as he jumped down from the tree landing on the top of a small building. William jumped from roof to roof until he landed on a building with a large window. He saw dozens of White Fang recruits prodding prisoners into armored trucks. In the back of the room there were three people wearing different outfits. "Targets acquired." Will said into his headset. Dealing with Faunus targets was much harder than human targets. They had certain evolutionary traits that made most forms of surprise unconventional. William exhaled heavily. "This is going to hurt in the morning." He said as he froze a window to the point of snapping before jumping down into a horde of White Fang. A cloud of dust fluttered upward as he landed in front of the three lieutenants. "Fire!" The largest of the three yelled. In one motion William threw a handful of ice dust crystals in a crescent formation causing a barrier to be formed between himself and the gunfire. "I thought we killed the Ice Bladed Assassin a year ago." The female of the three said. "Doesn't matter we kill him now." The largest one said as he pulled out a great hammer and rushed William as the other two drew their rifles. "Fuck." William said under his breath as he grabbed two ice crystals and threw them into the air. As he dodged the large man's hammer two crystalline copies of himself with daggers rushed the other two. "Richter, we need help!" The smaller man yelled from the back of the room as his guard was being slowly broken down by the copy of William. The large man now identified as Richter had turned from William and rushed the ice copy of him. "Don't you ignore me asshole!" William yelled as he threw a spear of solid ice that ripped into Richter's shoulder causing him to tumble on the ground. William had seen the look in Richter's eyes a hundred times. It was the look that you gave someone you wanted to kill. The sounds of two bodies hitting the ground broke his attention. He saw the man and woman whom were his comrades laying with two crystal copies standing over them. "Don't worry they aren't dead." William said as the two copies evaporated. Richter didn't care he wanted to kill William. "I don't know who you are, but I'm going to kill you!" He yelled at William. "I'm absolutely quivering in my boots." William said with the mock dripping in his reply. Richter pushed himself off the ground with his eyes never leaving William. "He's gonna charge me isn't he?" William asked himself as Richter let out a large yell and sped towards William. All William could do was sigh as the large man lugged himself forward. "They always charge." He thought to himself as a sheet of ice extended from his feet forward meeting Richter's feet causing him to slip and bang him head as he hit the ground. William proceeded to gather the three and place ice cuffs on them before throwing down six dust crystals that turned into copies of himself that began heft the lieutenants. William looked at the wall in front of him. "Nothing a little ice can't fix." He said as he placed his hand on the brick wall causing frost to violently wear it down creating a large opening for himself and his clones. He could hear the sounds of grunts still shooting at his ice walls.

 **Back outside of the compound…**

Jasmine was keeping watch on the patrols and the road in and out of the compound when something caught her attention. "Will, there's another group of trucks heading into the compound and they don't look friendly." She said over the headset. "Then you get out of here now." He told her. "But Will I can help you." She protested. "I said leave the area now." He said with his tone becoming darker. "Fine I'll return to the ATV." She said in a huff as she jumped down from the tree and began the trek back to the clearing.

 **In Ozpin's Office…**

Ozpin had been listening to the line between William and Jasmine and heard with the mission he had assigned his nephew to went F.U.B.A.R. He sipped on his mug of coffee as he watched the compound with a small recon drone overlooking the whole scenario.

 **In the compound…**

William had made his way outside of the building, but was still in a dire situation. William was soon to be surrounded on all sides. He looked at his three prisoners. He still had the option of killing them even if it wasn't preferable, but that was part of the duty he was given. The walls he had up were getting thinner and the trucks were coming to his location. "Wait a second those trucks have prisoners." He thought to himself. He searched through the lieutenants' pockets before he found a small metal object. He pulled out a key from each of their pockets and smiled under his mask. He placed four dust crystals around the lieutenants in a diamond shape and forced his aura through them causing walls to sprout up and lock them in and keep others out. William jumped back and forth off the walls until he landed on the outside of them. "Hmm I still have around 60% of my aura left so if form a behemoth that will just about drain me." He said to himself as he heard the walls he'd formed earlier start to crack. "Looks like I don't really have a choice." He said somberly. He pulled out three large ice dust crystals and laid them in a triangle position as he poured 90% of his remaining aura into the crystals.

 **Inside of the building…**

The grunts had been shooting the walls for a good 10 minutes now and they were no closer to breaking them down. They had thrown grenades and fired multiple rpgs at them with little to no give. Suddenly the walls shattered and evaporated causing everyone in the building to look at one another with confusion. A pillar of ice came crashing through the roof slamming down causing a shockwave to ripple through the air before withdrawing itself showing a towering behemoth of ice. The entirety of the compound all turned to the behemoth and opened fire with everything that was available. During the commotion William had gone around the side of the building avoiding the horde of grunts. He had arrived behind a truck filled with prisoners. He pulled the handle downward expecting it to be locked, but instead was met by the click of a door opening. A dozen people both human and faunus were staring at him with scared eyes. He unlocked a young woman's pair of cuffs. "Can you drive?" He asked her. She nodded at him. "Then get in the front seat." He told her as his behemoth was raging in the back ground. He repeated this process on two more trucks. "Are there any others here?" He asked the man he had recently freed. "This is all of us." The man replied scratching his beard.

 **Behind the building…**

The diamond shaped prison of ice shattered and evaporated. The clones began hauling the lieutenants around the building towards a truck separate from the now escaping prisoners that William was sitting in currently hotwiring. One by one they laid the unconscious lieutenants in the bed of the truck before evaporating. The engine purred to laugh causing William to grin. The prisoners' trucks raced forward at the same time barreling past any White Fang that stood in the way. William followed behind them onto the dirt road as they fled far away from the compound.

 **In a small coffee shop in Vale…**

Jasmine had changed out of her operational uniform and was currently in jeans, a black tee, and a dark brown leather jacket. She hated waiting for William to finish a mission, and she hated it even more when he ordered her to run from one. She was currently seated at a table inside of a local coffee shop that also doubled as a decent bakery waiting for her latte and chocolate glazed donut. The sound of a bell ringing made Jasmine look up to see a very tired William making his way to her table. He was wearing a long coat and some jeans. She scowled at him as he looked at her. "I'm guessing you're pissed at me for getting you off the mission?" He asked her. She just stared at him without saying a word. William exhaled heavily as the waitress approached the table with a latte and a donut. She angrily bit into the donut. William pulled out the limited edition of the new Ninjas of Love and laid it on the table. "I guess since you don't want to talk to me I'll just have to give it to someone else." Williams said teasing her. "I hate you Will." She said with her face half stuffed with a donut. "Good enough for me." He said as he handed her the book and walked out of the store followed by Jasmine. "So what happened after you got out?" She asked him. "The prisoners drove to the police department." He told her. "Their families were notified if they had any and the ones in less than favorable conditions were transported to various hospitals around Vale." He said as he got in the stolen truck. "How are we going to get back to Beacon?" She said as she sipped on her latte. "We have a private bullhead waiting for us at the airpad." He said as he started the engine. Jasmine got into the passenger seat and looked at her gift. "We're still going to have a long discussion about this later." She said with a pout. William chuckled as he pulled away from the coffee shop into the night.


	6. Chapter 6

William and Jasmine had arrived at 3a.m. that morning and while Jasmine fell asleep instantly whereas William had no such luck. By 4a.m. he had taken a shower and chopped off his pony tail making his hair now similar to Jaune's hair. He had also shaved off his budding facial hair. He now looked like the man he was a little over a year ago. It was now 6a.m. and Jasmine had just stepped out of the shower. "You look good Will." She said while drying off her hair. "I always look good." He replied jokingly. She scoffed at his remark while she snapped on her bra. At this point Will was used to seeing Jasmine both clothed and nude and the effect of it had slowly died down to nothing. So while most guys would be ogling the half-naked girl in the room William was instead refining the designs for his pistols. "Geez Will way to make a girl feel ugly." She said mocking him. "As far as I know you'd rather have girls looking at you anyway so I think I'm doing a great job." He replied sarcastically making her snort as she buttoned up her blouse. "Today is the day we go sap collecting in Forever Falll isn't it?" He asked her. "Sure is." She replied as she slipped her shoes on. William exhaled heavily as he folded up the blueprint and put in in the drawer at his desk. Jasmine walked out of the room towards the cafeteria followed by an irritable Will.

In the cafeteria…

The cafeteria was always empty this early in the morning save for the few students that were up and the kitchen staff. Jasmine had a plate piled with Bacon, sausage, and eggs. William got a small cup of coffee and 3 waffles with a small mound of bacon. They sat at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. Jasmine dug into the mountain of food in front of her and Will followed suit. Five minutes later Jasmine was slouched over rubbing her stomach and William was now on his third cup of coffee. "This stuff is weak." He said as he pulled up the news article surrounding their mission on his phone. It left out everything that would allude to his involvement with the escape and now was mainly a story about a daring hostage escape from the White Fang. A number in the article caught his eye. "57 hostages in in differing stages of injure all being treated by various specialists and hospitals throughout Vale." He read to himself silently. "Some of the victims of this horrible act had been captives for over a decade." He read on. _"Come to my office immediately. – Uncle."_ William sighed and tapped Jasmine on the forehead. Her head jerked around since apparently at some point she had fallen asleep. "I have to go see my uncle I'll be back in time for class." He told her as he strode off to the top of the tower.

In Ozpin's Office…

William had arrived 13 minutes later in the office with a very well felt air of irritation coming off him. Ozpin was staring out of the large windows in the back of the office. "You seem troubled William." He said without turning around. "Very little sleep does that to a person." William replied. Ozpin pointed to the steaming pot of coffee on a table near his desk. William poured himself a cup of the warm liquid and took a sip of it. "This is beautiful." He said as he stared at the black liquid in his cup. "I'm glad you like it." Ozpin said as he turned around and looked at his nephew. "I assume you have already browsed the article about your mission?" Ozpin asked him. William nodded as he took a seat with his cup of liquid happiness. Ozpin took out a file and slid it in front of William. He sat down his cup of coffee and opened the folder causing his face to turn into an even deeper scowl. "Why are you showing me this?" He asked Ozpin through gritted teeth. "Because until 4a.m. this morning she was considered dead." He replied as he began sipping on his own mug of coffee. "Where is she?" He asked his uncle with pleading eyes. "She is currently being treated in a private medical facility funded by Beacon." He told William as he wrote down the address for him. "William tell no one of this place." He said looking at his nephew as he walked into the elevator.

In the cafeteria…

It was now around 7a.m. and William had just gotten back in the cafeteria seeing both teams RWBY and JNPR sitting near the middle with Jasmine taking a seat beside Nora. William walked over and sat next to Weiss. Everyone at the table stared at William. "Is there something on my face?" He asked them as he rubbed his cheek. "You shaved." Weiss said. "And cut my hair." He said as he rubbed his smooth chin. "You look nice William." Pyrrha said in her always sweet tone. "He looks hot." Yang said with a look of desire in her eyes. Weiss turned her head and shot glares at Yang. William stared down at the table trying to focus his thoughts on the trip to Forever Fall, but instead they kept redirecting to Weiss. He had hoped that eventually they'd be closer than they once were. Right now he was remembering one of the first kisses they'd shared 3 years ago.

3 years ago at the Schnee Estate…

William hated having to visit the Schnee family whenever his father came there to "Socialize" with the upper class snobs he disliked as much as William. William was in a suit similar to his father's albiet his was missing the white coat his father had. The younger ladies all looked at William the way a hungry lion looked at a gazelle. He knew the look all too well and decided to take part in the open bar to soothe his nerves. "Shot of whiskey." He told the bartender who looked at him with a raised brow. "I heard you say orange juice." The bartender replied jokingly. He then noticed the small pack of girls heading towards the young man who just asked for whiskey. "Tell you what I'll give you a cup of half whiskey and half juice." The bartender told him. William smiled at the man and slide him a 20 lien bill before swirling around the mixture and taking a large gulp just as the group of girls arrived behind him. "Are you the young Ironwood we are hearing so much about?" The lead girl asked William. "Yes madam that would be me." He replied curtly. "Is it true that you're one of the highest-ranking specialists in the military?" The girl asked him. "No I am simply an apprentice to one of the higher ranked specialists." He lied straight through his teeth. The bartender had seen through the fake smile he was wearing ages ago, but that happened when you served the rich and entitled. Weiss Schnee was across the room in a situation like William's however she was more accustomed to fake small talk than her fiancé. She had noticed him glancing at her multiple times now. "I'm sorry to leave, but you must excuse me I have an important matter to attend to." She said as she bowed leaving behind a group of boys. William was still making awkward small talk trying to stall until something happened. "It's lovely to see you again William." "I must say it is lovely to see you again as well Ms. Schnee." He said placing his forearm across his torso and bowing lightly. The group of girls began trying to talk to Weiss but she shut them down immediately. "It's wonderful meeting you all, but I must still Mr. Ironwood from you as we have business to discuss." She said while looking at William. "Ah but of course." He said as he bowed to the group of girls before stepping in stride beside Weiss. "I must thank you for that timely interruption Ms. Schnee." "You can stop talking like that now Will." She said looking at him. "Oh thank Oum." He said as he reverted to casual speech. "How do you handle all of this Weiss?" He asked her as he slowed down to look at the moon out of one of the large windows in the hallway. "It's what I was taught to do Will." She said as she stood next to him looking out the window at the moon. "Even though it's shattered it's beautiful." Weiss said. "Too bad it's not the most beautiful thing I've seen tonight." William said. Weiss giggled softly at his remark and intertwined their fingers. They stood there for what felt like seconds even though around half an hour had passed. _"We leave in an hour. – Dad"_ William sighed as he looked down at his scroll. "We have an hour to spend doing whatever you want." William told Weiss as he looked down at her. "Then let's return to the ballroom." She said as she locked her arm around his. "You know I can't dance." He said to Weiss. "Who said you had to dance?" She asked him. "Fair point." He replied allowing Weiss to lead him into the ballroom. "So what are we going to do?" He asked her as he noticed the sons of prominent business men starting to look at him. "Weiss I don't like this." He told her as a few of the males began to approach them. Weiss clung onto him even tighter. "You'll be fine." She said as the boys made a triumphant entrance. "Madam Schnee may I have this dance?" The muscular blonde one asked her. "I'm sure your butler wouldn't mind." He said as he looked at William. "Oh I know this bitch did not just call me a butler." William thought to himself until he looked at the staff of the party. He was dressed almost exactly like them save for a different colored vest. Weiss was smiling at him trying not to laugh and slowly breaking down into tears. "My butler was just about to escort me to my chambers for the evening." She managed to say through laughter. The blonde boy thought she was laughing at him and took offense. "You've some nerve to embarrass me infront of Ms. Schnee you lowly peasant." The blonde boy said directing his anger towards William. William raised his brow at the sudden turn of conversation. "You assume she was laughing at your sad attempts at flirting?" William said causing he blonde boys anger to swell even more. "I'll put you in your place piss ant." He said barring his teeth at William. "I'm absolutely shaking in my boots." William replied flatly. Now he boys in his entourage were trying to calm him by stroking his ego calling him tougher and manlier than a butler. Weiss was now tugging on William's sleeve but he wouldn't budge. "Afraid to leave Ms. Schnee out of fear for your wellbeing?" One of the smaller boys tried to mock William. "Quite the contrary I'm keeping her here so I don't do something colossally stupid." He replied with a frown on his face. He didn't see it but Weiss had a smile on her face due to his comment about her. "But I must bid you adieu as Ms. Schnee has need of my services." He said as he bowed to the group of young men before turning on his heel and followed Weiss into the large corridor. "I wasn't lying when I said you were taking me to my room." She said to him as she grabbed his hand a began leading him to her room. A blush crept onto William's cheek. He and Weiss had been engaged for a few months now, however they'd had a secret relationship since they were 13 granted they never did more than talk due to time constraints in William's schedule. Weiss opened the door to her room and led William in before she turned and softly closed it. "Don't you think this room is a bit...grand?" Will asked with his mouth slightly open. She took his hand and led him to the middle of the room which basked them in moonlight. "So when did you get the scar?" He asked her as he stood in the middle of the room. "I was training and this happened as an accident." "Mhm alright then." William replied and left it at that. She grabbed William's hands and began humming the Waltz. William followed her peerlessly around her room as she hummed louder and softer until the song had finally ended and there they were wrapped in each other's arms. Weiss was the first one to make a move and slammed her lips against William's, however he quickly recovered and leaned into it. They'd have gone on longer, but they both needed to breath. "That was...nice." Weiss said as she kept William close to her. "Strawberries." William said. "What?" "You taste like strawberries." William said as his eyes never left hers. Weiss smiled at him pulled his face down to hers for another kiss, but the vibrating of William's scroll distracted them. "As much as I'd love to continue this I have to go." He said as the smile on his face turned into a frown. Weiss frowned as well, but she grabbed a small white jewel off her desk and handed it to William. "Something to give you good luck." She said as she kissed him on the cheek. William and Weiss returned to the ballroom that was still full of staff and party goers. William bowed to Weiss as he walked off to join his father. "There's the butler that insulted me father." William heard an annoying voice say from across the ballroom. He turned to see a tall blond man followed by a smaller version of himself arrive on his heels. "I hear you insulted my son, and to make it worse you did it in front of young Ms. Schnee." He said in a condescending tone that was already starting to piss William off. "Don't you think you own my son an apology for the emotional suffering you've caused him?" The man asked William causing him to clench his jaw shut. General Ironwood saw William with his jaw clenched and knew that his son was about to do something brash. He sat his left hand on his sons shoulder. "General Ironwood I didn't know you took an interest in the wellbeing of butlers." The blond man said. James looked down at his son with a raised brow and his son simply shrugged not really knowing how to respond. "Mr. Henir I'm not quite sure your son was informed correctly about who this boy is." He said to the blond man. "Well then who is he General?" The man asked him in a haughty tone. "This boy you are speaking so lowly of is my son." He told the blond man. "Anyway I must bid you farewell as duty demands us be elsewhere." General Ironwood said as he pushed William forward. They were in the courtyard when an Atlas military airship landed in front of them. "Why do we have to pretend we like them dad?" William asked his father as they sat in the airship. "Because our duty demands that we must." Was all the reply William got as they returned to base in the darkness.

Flashback end…

Currently everyone was in the locker room suiting up for the field trip into Forever Fall. Originally it was for Professor Peach's class, but she ended up getting a cold and had to get Ms. Goodwitch to sub in for her. The current time was now 8:45 in the morning and everyone had finally gotten geared up for the trip. "Why aren't you wearing your bracers?" Jasmine asked Will. "I wanted to focus on my sword and dagger combat today on the off chance that something bad happens." He replied as he sat next to Jasmine for a ride that would take them at the very least another hour till landing.


	7. Chapter 6 and a half

22 students were huddled together in the bullhead that was now landing in Forever Fall. Team RWBY was the first to exit the ship followed by the other four teams and finally the duo of Jasmine and William. "You all have an hour to gather sap and return to the bullhead." Prof. Goodwitch said to the teams. "All teams will be given a tap and 4 jars to gather sap with." She said as William appeared behind her with a box jars held between his hands. "And remember even though this area is considered safe there is still a chance of grimm appearing so be on your guards." She said as William sat down the box of jars next to her feet. The teams collected a tap and jars and dispersed around the forest to begin the sole purpose for this trip. Jasmine had joined team RWBY while they gathered sap and William joined team JNPR. He saw Ren tapping a tree and Nora was jumping around, and then he saw Pyrrha looking up at Jaune with team CRDL. "I'm guessing Cardin found out about his transcripts?" William asked her which made her jump slightly. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She said. "Pyrrha I've known from day one Jaune had fake transcripts." He said while looking at Jaune allowing himself to be pushed around. "If you knew then why didn't you turn him in?" Pyrrha asked as she stood next to William. "Because even if he doesn't have skill he has one of the best strategic minds in our class even if he doesn't realize his own potential yet." William said as he turned back around to see Nora chugging down the sap Ren had just collected. "Sometimes I really feel bad for Ren." He said to Pyrrha which made her giggle. "Nora stop eating all the sap." Ren told her in his best attempt at being stern with her. She made a fake pouty face but conceded and let Ren continue his sap gathering. William turned back to the plateau Jaune was on and saw Cardin eyeing him through a pair of binoculars. He then saw Jaune back up and heard glass shattering and the sweet scent of sap on the air. William had jumped into the tree line and landed next to a tree not far from the clearing Jaune and team CRDL were in. He saw Cardin punch Jaune in the face causing the smaller boy to skid back in the dirt. William didn't move an inch as Cardin began straddling Jaune and kept trying to break his defenses. The roar of an Ursa caused everyone in the clearing to stop before they noticed the owner of the sound barreling towards them. Dove, Sky, and Russel jumped off the plateau causing the other students to look at them. "Ursa!" Dove yelled as they continued running and pointing at the plateau. Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha jumped through the tree line only to see William next to a tree watching the event unfold. They all landed next to William who had his hand out preventing Ruby to go further. "What are you doing Will?" She asked him as she drew Crescent Rose. "Ruby all of us have been tested in one way or another, but Jaune hasn't." He said as Jaune took a hit from the Ursa. "Now it's his turn to prove to himself more than anyone that he belongs here." Jaune saw that his aura was low and decided to go for one last attempt to finish the fight. Jaune yelled and swung his blade upwards towards the Ursa's throat, but his shield was too low to block the incoming slash. Then a black aura surrounded his shield and moved it in the path of the incoming blow. The body thudded against the ground as the head flew through the air and smacked into the ground before they faded from existence. Jaune grabbed Cardin by the collar and said something none of them could quite understand. William walked out of the tree line and patted Jaune on the back. "Good job there Jaune." He said with a smile on his face. Jaune made a weak smile then plopped on the ground with the shock of what just happened finally hitting him. Pyrrha and Ruby came out of the tree line shortly after to help Jaune up and gave him words of encouragement while Weiss stood next to William. Everyone in the forest heard an angry roar ripple through the forest. "That can't be good." William said as he and everyone near him looked to the trees to see a chimera leaping majestically into the clearing. "OH COME ON!" William yelled as the others drew their weapons. "This grimm had three heads all with a different function." William explained as the beast stalked around them. "The head on its back can spit fire, and the tail is a King Taijuti." He explained while Jaune had already began forming a plan in his head. "Will can you get it locked it place?" Jaune asked him. William nodded. "Ruby the moment Will immobilizes it take off the tail," Ruby nodded and crouched low to the ground "Pyrrha I need you to throw your spear at the head on its back." She nodded and took a stance to throw it at the center of its skull. The chimera roared and charged them. William slammed his palms to the dirt and the ground between himself and the chimera quickly frosted over before the ice encased itself around it's paws. Ruby dashed forward and swung a heavy blow at the tail causing it to fly off in the air while a thudding noise was heard and the head on the back fell limp as a spear hung out of it. The beast became enraged and broke free barreling towards Jaune. "Shit." Was all William thought as he shoved Jaune out of the way and was tackled off the plateau by an angry grimm. They called out his name, but William and the chimera were both still in free fall. They both collided with the ground and a cloud of dust erupted from the large grimm. William had landed as well, but the impact of the fall had wiped out whatever aura he had left, and caused internal damage as well.

At the Bullhead…

Professor Goodwitch had started rounding up students the moment she heard the roar, but parts of RWBY and JNPR were missing, and when she saw William and a chimera falling off a plateau she knew where they were. She rushed over to the cloud of dust to see William holding his rib cage which was clearly broken and the chimera limping towards him. She raised her wand and various debris gathered into the shaped of a large shard before hurtling it towards the large grimm. The shard collided with the beast, but it still drug itself toward William who had drawn his blade in his good arm and was slowly making his way towards the beast as well. Rather than making a move the two stared at one another with a strange sense of respect before they both tensed up to make one final attack. The chimera raised its heavy paw and swung it at William's head, but William ran forward under the blow and rammed his blade deep into the beasts neck before yanking it sideways causing a mist of black ichor to douse him before the body and the blood evaporated. William lost his conscious and fell to the ground. Everyone in the bullhead was watching the battle occur before Ren and Jasmine walked out to help William off the ground. The others on the plateau had come down as well to help carry him into the bullhead. "Everyone clear out the middle so we can lay down William." Goodwitch ordered as they gently laid William down on the floor of the bullhead. The pilot had begun the trip back to Beacon the moment everyone was safely in the bullhead.


	8. Chapter 7

A week had passed since William had been hospitalized and it was beginning to weigh heavily on the conscience of everyone who was on the field trip. The medical staff at Beacon told them a week was the earliest he'd be awake due to injuries and aura exhaustion. He had woken up two days earlier than predicted, but was subdued after going into shock when. He was currently awake and discussing with the head nurse when he could leave. She informed him that he was clear to go now, but to be careful in future situations. Since he was hungry he decided to throw on a school uniform left for him should he awake and ran to the cafeteria.

In the cafeteria…

Every day since William had gotten hurt Teams RWBY and JNPR had visited his room and they were currently discussing when they would visit today over lunch. "We were thinking of seeing him today before training." Jaune said as he took a bite of his slice of pizza. "We might join you guys then." Ruby replied as she poked around at her plate. Jasmine and Weiss took his hospitalization the hardest blaming themselves for not helping him in that moment, however it seemed like Jasmine was avoiding Weiss since that day almost as if she hated her and everyone noticed it. Ruby and Yang brought it up a few times to Weiss, but she brushed it off and after the first few times they stopped annoying her. They also tried bringing it up to Jasmine, but she didn't even acknowledge the question. "I really wish William was here." Ruby said causing the rest of the table to solemnly nod. "I've been sitting here for the past 5 minutes." William said at the end of the table holding a burger in his hands. Every eyed him and blinked a few times to make sure they weren't hallucinating. When they realized they weren't they all smiled at him. "How did you get here without any of us noticing?" Yang asked. "I'm a soldier trained in espionage." He said causing everyone but Jasmine and Weiss to stare at him again. They all began conversing with a lighter tone now that Will was at the table, but Jasmine was shooting Weiss a sideways glance that held a meaning only she was aware of. Weiss tugged on William's sleeve and whispered something in his ear before he and Weiss left the table to go into the courtyard outside of the cafeteria. "Why'd they just up and leave?" Jaune asked. "Atlas business Jaune." Jasmine said glumly.

In the courtyard…

William had to admit that today was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly, birds singing softly, and the breeze was light and playful carrying a sweet scent on it. Weiss was pacing in circles in a small patch of grass while William took a seat on a stone bench. "Will there is something I need to tell you." Weiss said. He cocked his head to the side and waited for her to continue. "During the year you were gone _things_ happened." She told him. "You mean how you got engaged to that blond asshole cause of your father's pestering?" William asked her with a raised brow. "You knew about that?" She asked him partially angry. "Yes, I've known for a few months now, but it isn't like I can fight a whole family of rich people without heavy repercussions." He said defending himself. 'You could have at least fought him for my hand." She replied. "That has been arranged." He told her causing her to raise her brow at him. "When the Vytal festival occurs he and I will be having a 1 on 1 bout." He told her causing her expression to lessen in fury and become more concerned. "You know he won't fight fair." She said as she sat next to him and laid her hand on his. "It doesn't matter if he does or not, I'll do whatever it takes to be with you." William said with conviction. Weiss couldn't help but smile at him. Without any warning Weiss grabbed his collar and pulled his face to hers causing their lips to crash together. She was currently pushing him down onto the cold stone bench as they both savored every moment their lips were connected before they realized the position they were in and the gasps of their friends who had come out to check on them. "I swear this isn't what it looks like." Weiss said with her face burning red. "I kinda hoped it was exactly what it looks like." William said with a devilish grin. Weiss began to hit him repeatedly trying to make him stop talking. "So how long has this been going on?" Yang asked with heavy implications. "4 years next month." William answered without even thinking. "So are you two dating?" Jaune asked. "We're engaged." William said as he wiggled his ring finger around. Everyone around them deadpanned at his answer and William took that as his chance to start a full sprint in any direction that wasn't there, but Professor Goodwitch rounded the corner ending up directly in his path causing him to skid to a stop. "I'm happy to see you're okay William." She said with a smile on her face. "Yea that's nice Aunt Glynda, but I have to run." He said as he rushed around her only to have teams JNPR and RWBY minus Weiss and Blake rushed around her after William. "I'm getting too old for this." She said to herself as she made her way to the cafeteria. "So does he end up in these situations often?" Blake asked Jasmine. "More than I care to remember." She answered as she made her way to her and Will's room.

Around the various pathways of Beacon…

Will was currently running down every twist and turn he could find attempting to lose the squad of prying friends hot on his tail. "You're gonna tell us Ironwood!" Yang yelled after him. "Guess I have no choice but to do this." William thought as he rounded a pillar and jumped onto the wall. "You're not gonna get away from us that easily!" Nora yelled as she jumped up the wall after him. "Why do I get stuck in the worst situations?" He thought to himself as he continued to scale the side of the main building. He heard a window swing open and saw Jasmine waving down at him. "How are ya down there?" She asked him. He frowned at her and began climbing vigorously to the open window. He pulled himself through the window pane and locked the window behind himself. William was panting heavily as he laid down on the floor. His scroll began ringing and on the screen the word _DAD_ was plastered to the center of it.

In a military grade Airship headed to Beacon…

James was currently calling his son for the 3rd time today and was getting annoyed. "Hey there old man." His son answered causing him to groan heavily before exhaling. "Hello William, I am glad to hear that you're okay." He told his son. "I've been through worse." He answered. "I know you have, but I still worry about you even if you are a hard-headed fool." James said. "You sure know how to make me feel so good about myself." William replied sarcastically. "Yes, anyway this call isn't just about me checking up on you." He told William. "It's about the Vytal Festival isn't it?" William asked. "Yes it's in regards to the deal made between you and the Henir's." His father told him. "Go on." William said losing the sarcasm in his voice and listening closely to his father. "Issac Henir has deemed it unfair for Judah to fight you in a one on one duel, so he instead has changed it to a three on one with two people of his choosing, and Jacque agreed with him just to annoy both you and me." James told his son. "And he's going to hire mercenaries, isn't he?" William asked knowing the answer already. "The two he has hired are people you've worked with before, Cyrus and Gregory Lerker." His father told him which made his son curse under his breath. "I'll prepare for them as best I can." He told his father. "I know you will son, and I'm proud of you for what you did even if it was idiotic." James told William. "Thanks dad." William said as he ended the call. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into William." James thought as he looked at the report of all military assets in the fleet of ship heading to Vale.


End file.
